Educational Research journal

Educational Research, the journal of the NFER, was established in 1958. Drawing upon projects in universities and research centres worldwide, it is a leading forum for informed thinking on issues of contemporary concern in education.

The journal is of interest to academics, researchers and those people concerned with mediating research findings to policy makers and practitioners.

Educational Research has a broad scope and contains research studies, reviews of research, discussion pieces, short reports and book reviews in all areas of the education field.

What’s New?

To be published in Educational Research during 2018 - Special Focus entitled Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs) in education research – methodological debates, questions, challenges

This special issue adds to the existing knowledge base about evidence-informed practice (EiP) in education. Discussions and debates about the role of evidence in an educational context are not new. Indeed, a variety of programmes and resources has been developed over recent decades aiming to improve the quality and usability of educational research and, ultimately, its impact on teaching practice.

However, EiP is still very much a topic of academic and professional discussion, and there is a sense that it has not yet ‘come of age’. Many EiP studies describe a challenge that relates to improving the supply of good-quality research evidence for practice. Considerably less attention has been given to the demand for research evidence among teachers – how this can be nurtured; how it manifests itself, and whether the current supply of educational research evidence is suited to professional need.

There has also been insufficient focus on the role of teacher-led research and enquiry and the extent to which this integrates with the production and use of academic research evidence. Furthermore, the mediating processes that connect evidence and practice require further development, research, and assessment. The issue addresses a variety of issues related to better understanding the meaning and application of EiP. Specifically, it addresses the challenges associated with defining and measuring it, and considers the relative effectiveness of different approaches to achieving and supporting the application of evidence in practice.